Just Checking In?

 

Hello there friends and bloggers! Wow, where has the year gone? As usual, my attempts at keeping up with my blog have been lackluster at best. It has been a busy year for sure. I wanted to stop in and touch base.

With the year ending I am thinking about resolutions and goals for 2013. I am only going to set 5 main goals so I can keep it simple and attainable. I get all excited for the fresh start and set too many goals and have too many irons in the fire, which equals nothing finished and me being disappointed.


We have taken on extra debt this year. We purchased a new car a few weeks ago. It was time our car was 8 years old and was not reliable enough to take my husband and I both to work. We got a great deal and love our new car but I so enjoyed not having a car payment!

It's time to ramp our retirement, we have been putting this off but the hubby turned 40 this year and we decided we need to bite the bullet and do it!

Are you getting your new years goals in order? I would love to hear your feedback. I will be back to post my goals for 2013. Have a great weekend!

Hello! Remember Me?

                                                      photo credit: moejoe




Hello there family, friends and fellow bloggers. I just thought I would drop in and say hello. It sure has been hot and busy around here. I miss blogging but unfortunately I let is slide on the priority list again.

I have been very busy at our local farmer's market this summer. We have market on Wednesdays and Fridays. You can imagine that keeps me busy baking and canning. I haven't tried to expand the business any further really. Although I have picked up a few regular customers in the community, so I guess I am getting the word out!

The kids have enjoyed the summer. School starts in a bit over two weeks and they are ready to go back. We swam, visited family and hung out with our wonderful friends. Lots of great conversations and bottles of wine! (for the adults of course!)

Tablescaping has be neglected also. I have so little space for all of my dishes, they live in storage tubs on shelves in the garage.It has just been too hot to dig around down there. I have been lurking though. some of my favorites the summer have been Alycia from Tablescapes at Table 21 and Yvonne at Stone Gable.

I have been shopping sales and being frugal as possible. You know the expense of getting kids back to school. I have been enjoying my savings with my Target RedCard and have updated my savings to date. We havent paid off any debt since my last posts. But we haven't racked up anymore so that's good. I bit the bullet and joined Dave Ramsey online. it costs extra but it keeps me accountable and runs my debt snowball for me. There will be two pay offs in August due to this so, money well spent!!!!

I'm glad I stopped in to say hi, I have missed keeping up with everyone. Hope your are enjoying your summer and keeping cool!!!!
                                                               Much Love,
                                                                  Deb

Tablescape Thursday Mother's Day Table

Welcome everyone. sorry for the late posting. The camera cord walked away and the computer does not like my SD card. Mother's Day is this Sunday and I am sure you are all as excited as I am!! I wont be able to be with the Moms in my family this year so this table is dedicated to them. Mom, Barb, Jessie, Grandma and Jackie take a virtual seat and enjoy!!!!

I really enjoyed setting this table. I found this little vintage table cloth and napkins last year on Etsy I think. The fresh roses really match the embroidered ones on the table. I would the serving a brunch. Raspberry scones and lemon curd  and fresh fruit salad and some creamy baked eggs, and to finish it all off with some English breakfast tea and coffee.


I hope everyone one has a wonderful and relaxing Mother's Day!!! Make sure you let  you Mom know how truly special she is!!!!!!! Don't forget to stop by Between Naps on the Porch and thank Susan for hosting and see all the other talented tablescapers for Tablecape Thursday!

New Challenge, Expense Tracking Week 1 Update

Good Morning frugal friends and bloggers. I have decided to participate in a new challenge. Melissa at Moms Plans is hosting a weekly expense tracking challenge. I am very excited and hope I  learn a thing or two. In fact, know I have already!

Here is how it all broke down for last week. I included Monday the 30th to make it a full week.

MONDAY 30th- No spending

TUESDAY 1st- Quicktrip (gas for car) $30.01
                           Quicktrip (milk) $3.25
                           Dollar store (first aid supplies, hubby sprang his wrist) $8.93

WEDNESDAY 2nd- No Spending
THURSDAY 3rd- No Spending

FRIDAY 4th- Quicktrip- (hubby's spending) $4.30
                   Target- (household and toiletry supplies) $38.50
                    Target/Starbucks- (monthly coffee treat) $4.63
                   Spending money -(for hubby and I both) $40.00
                    Aldis (Groceries)- $94.12

SATURDAY 5th- No spending

SUNDAY 6th- Judy's bakery-( coffees, donuts and Sunday paper)-$ 8.78
                         Target- (hubby's meds) $9.13
                          Dollar Store- (Daughters Teach It Project supplies) $9.31
                          Taco Bueno-(Afternoon snacks) $9.81

The breakdown: Grocery -$97.37
                          Eating Out/Snacks- $23.22
                          Hubby Spending- $13.43
                           Gas- $30.01
                          Household- $47.43
                          Kids- $9.31
                          Spending Money- $40.00
                         Totals- $260.77


What I have learned. First and foremost, if I had not been doing this challenge I would have spent more! Writing everything down makes you think twice. I have developed lazy habit after the move. I just get bored and fritter away money, its just small things but it adds up. So we are back on the cash envelope system for our spending money, groceries, household items and I am considering gas too. The good news is that I still have $18 in my spending envelope, next time my monthly Starbucks can come from that!

I have set a $130 goal for groceries, which we were way under for that! Yea, for us! The only category that frustrated me was the eating out and snack area. We have decided one day a month yo eat out and its is scheduled for this coming Sunday. We need to reel this little habit in FAST! I knew it would be a issue, its our weakness! It would be ideal to get the expenses for household and toiletries to $30.00.


Being accountable and having every receipt staring at you to be written down helps tremendously. Accountability Rocks!!! Thanks for getting me on board Melissa!!!

Are you tracking your expenses? Give it a whirl, you will learn a lot about your habits and yourself! I know I am. Hope you all have a FAB and Frugal Monday!!!!!!
                                                             
                                                                         Deb!
                   

Week 18 Update Debt Snowflake Challenge

Its week 18 already? WOW, 2012 is zipping right along! This week is all about "slow and steady" that's our pace and I have made peace with it. I was able to pay off another small debt for April. Very exciting indeed!


I had a small balance on a store credit card that I have decided needs to go. So $120.61 went to wipe it out. I really want to close it but the hubby is too worried about the negative impact on our credit score so I will just shred it. I will never understand why you are penalized for closing accounts. Not paying or slow paying I understand.....slave to debt.


I think that we are going back to the cash envelope system. It really helps with the grocery budget and spending money. So starting Monday be are back to cash. the only category I wont be able to do cash for is household items. I am using the Target REDcard for that but it's not a category I overspend in anyway so for now it works.

This week I added $16.86 to our snowball giving us a balance of $66.99 plus a .02 interest deposit. Its sad to see the amount going down for some reason. Its not like I blew it. We are successfully paying off debt that is hanging around and slowing us down! I think my brain is weird!


I Hope everyone has had a wonderful week and a even better weekend!!! Cant wait to see everyones progress!
                                                            Frugally Yours, Deb!

My Chicken Veggie-Table

Welcome friends! Surprise! After several months away I was able to dig out enough of my dishes to do a little table scape! I am so excited I have missed participating.

I call this post my Veggie-Table. I have been collecting these little veggie trinkets for awhile and I thought it was time for them to come out to dine. In the move to the apartment I lost a dining room so we will be using the kitchen for a bit. Changes, changes....(I did gain a bathroom and laundry room)

Did you notice the chicken who is really garlic? Or the chicken pumpkin? My mother gave those to me several years ago and I just love them! The napkins are from Marshall's, the chicken soup tureen is from EBay and everything else is just everyday tableware. I am so glad to be participating in Tablescape Thursday with Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. Hop on over and look at everyone's creations.

Target Cash Back Weekly Update

Hello friends! I just wanted to get a quick post up to let you know that I gave the REdcard a try for my weekly household items. The transaction was problem free, even though I was using the temporary sales slip I was given until my card arrives.

I did check to see if the purchase had debited from my account, and it had not. Normally it would have been automatic. This is not really a problem since I write all my debits down and subtract immediately.When I was researching I did see where several commenter's raised this as a issue.

I saved $1.84 on my purchases. I intended to post a picture of my items but the library computer does not like my SD card and the blogger upload option is not compatible with blackberry. The trials of being without my laptop. Times like these really test your will, I so badly want to grab my credit card! But I'm a frugal smart gal now!!!!

Anyhoo...back to savings. My Target as most do I am sure has a Starbucks, so I decided that once a month I will treat myself to a grande Frap. I used my card there too and saved .22. Its not much but I feel better having my treat knowing I saved a bit! So my total for this weeks haul is a savings of  $2.06 total.

I am excited to use my REDcard for clothes shopping for summer and school this season too. I cant wait to rack up some change on those purchases!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by. I am intending to link up for Tablescape Thursday as soon as I grab my camera and upload them directly! come back and check it out!!!  I updated my sidebar to include my savings.

                                                                  Frugally Yours, Deb

Updated to add shopping trip pic: